Systems and methods to check-in shoppers in a cashier-less store

ABSTRACT

Systems and techniques are provided for linking subjects in an area of real space with user accounts. The user accounts are linked with client applications executable on mobile computing devices. A plurality of cameras are disposed above the area. The cameras in the plurality of cameras produce respective sequences of images in corresponding fields of view in the real space. A processing system is coupled to the plurality of cameras. The processing system includes logic to determine locations of subjects represented in the images. The processing system further includes logic to match the identified subjects with user accounts by identifying locations of the mobile computing devices executing client applications in the area of real space and matching locations of the mobile computing devices with locations of the subjects.

PRIORITY APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/703,785 filed 26 Jul. 2018, which application isincorporated herein by reference; and is a continuation-in-part of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/945,473 filed 4 Apr. 2018, which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/907,112filed 27 Feb. 2018, (now issued patent Ser. No. 10/133,933) issued on 20Nov. 2018, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/847,796, filed 19 Dec. 2017 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,055,853),which claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/542,077 filed 7 Aug. 2017, which applications are incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND Field

The present invention relates to systems that link subjects in an areaof real space with user accounts linked with client applicationsexecuting on mobile computing devices.

Description of Related Art

Identifying subjects within an area of real space, such as people in ashopping store, uniquely associating the identified subjects with realpeople or with authenticated accounts associated with responsibleparties can present many technical challenges. For example, considersuch an image processing system deployed in a shopping store withmultiple customers moving in aisles between the shelves and open spaceswithin the shopping store. Customers take items from shelves and putthose in their respective shopping carts or baskets. Customers may alsoput items on the shelf, if they do not want the item. Though the systemmay identify a subject in the images, and the items the subject takes,the system must accurately identify an authentic user accountresponsible for the taken items by that subject.

In some systems, facial recognition, or other biometric recognitiontechnique, might be used to identify the subjects in the images, andlink them with accounts. This approach, however, requires access by theimage processing system to databases storing the personal identifyingbiometric information, linked with the accounts. This is undesirablefrom a security and privacy standpoint in many settings.

It is desirable to provide a system that can more effectively andautomatically link a subject in an area of real space to a user known tothe system for providing services to the subject. Also, it is desirableto provide image processing systems by which images of large spaces areused to identify subjects without requiring personal identifyingbiometric information of the subjects.

SUMMARY

A system, and method for operating a system, are provided for linkingsubjects, such as persons in an area of real space, with user accounts.The system can use image processing to identify subjects in the area ofreal space without requiring personal identifying biometric information.The user accounts are linked with client applications executable onmobile computing devices. This function of linking identified subjectsto user accounts by image and signal processing presents a complexproblem of computer engineering, relating to the type of image andsignal data to be processed, what processing of the image and signaldata to perform, and how to determine actions from the image and signaldata with high reliability.

A system and method are provided for linking subjects in an area of realspace with user accounts. The user accounts are linked with clientapplications executable on mobile computing devices. A plurality ofcameras or other sensors produce respective sequences of images incorresponding fields of view in the real space. Using these sequences ofimages, a system and method are described for determining locations ofidentified subjects represented in the images and matching theidentified subjects with user accounts by identifying locations ofmobile devices executing client applications in the area of real spaceand matching locations of the mobile devices with locations of thesubjects.

In one embodiment described herein, the mobile devices emit signalsusable to indicate locations of the mobile devices in the area of realspace. The system matches the identified subjects with user accounts byidentifying locations of mobile devices using the emitted signals.

In one embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobile devices compriseimages. In a described embodiment, the client applications on the mobiledevices cause display of semaphore images, which can be as simple as aparticular color, on the mobile devices in the area of real space. Thesystem matches the identified subjects with user accounts by identifyinglocations of mobile devices by using an image recognition engine thatdetermines locations of the mobile devices displaying semaphore images.The system includes a set of semaphore images. The system accepts logincommunications from a client application on a mobile device identifyinga user account before matching the user account to an identified subjectin the area of real space. After accepting login communications, thesystem sends a selected semaphore image from the set of semaphore imagesto the client application on the mobile device. The system sets a statusof the selected semaphore image as assigned. The system receives adisplayed image of the selected semaphore image, recognizes thedisplayed image and matches the recognized image with the assignedimages from the set of semaphore images. The system matches a locationof the mobile device displaying the recognized semaphore image locatedin the area of real space with a not yet linked identified subject. Thesystem, after matching the user account to the identified subject, setsthe status of the recognized semaphore image as available.

In one embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobile devices compriseradio signals indicating a service location of the mobile device. Thesystem receives location data transmitted by the client applications onthe mobile devices. The system matches the identified subjects with useraccounts using the location data transmitted from the mobile devices.The system uses the location data transmitted from the mobile devicefrom a plurality of locations over a time interval in the area of realspace to match the identified subjects with user accounts. This matchingthe identified unmatched subject with the user account of the clientapplication executing on the mobile device includes determining that allother mobile devices transmitting location information of unmatched useraccounts are separated from the mobile device by a predetermineddistance and determining a closest unmatched identified subject to themobile device.

In one embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobile devices compriseradio signals indicating acceleration and orientation of the mobiledevice. In one embodiment, such acceleration data is generated byaccelerometer of the mobile computing device. In another embodiment, inaddition to the accelerometer data, direction data from a compass on themobile device is also received by the processing system. The systemreceives the accelerometer data from the client applications on themobile devices. The system matches the identified subjects with useraccounts using the accelerometer data transmitted from the mobiledevice. In this embodiment, the system uses the accelerometer datatransmitted from the mobile device from a plurality of locations over atime interval in the area of real space and derivative of dataindicating the locations of identified subjects over the time intervalin the area of real space to match the identified subjects with useraccounts.

In one embodiment, the system matches the identified subjects with useraccounts using a trained network to identify locations of mobile devicesin the area of real space based on the signals emitted by the mobiledevices. In such an embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobiledevices include location data and accelerometer data.

In one embodiment, the system includes log data structures including alist of inventory items for the identified subjects. The systemassociates the log data structure for the matched identified subject tothe user account for the identified subject.

In one embodiment, the system processes a payment for the list ofinventory items for the identified subject from a payment methodidentified in the user account linked to the identified subject.

In one embodiment, the system matches the identified subjects with useraccounts without use of personal identifying biometric informationassociated with the user accounts.

Methods and computer program products which can be executed by computersystems are also described herein.

Other aspects and advantages of the present invention can be seen onreview of the drawings, the detailed description and the claims, whichfollow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an architectural level schematic of a system in whicha matching engine links subjects identified by a subject tracking engineto user accounts linked with client applications executing on mobiledevices.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an aisle in a shopping store illustrating asubject with a mobile computing device and a camera arrangement.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the aisle of FIG. 2 in a shopping storeillustrating the subject with the mobile computing device and the cameraarrangement.

FIG. 4 shows an example data structure for storing joints information ofsubjects.

FIG. 5 shows an example data structure for storing a subject includingthe information of associated joints.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing process steps for matching an identifiedsubject to a user account using a semaphore image displayed on a mobilecomputing device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing process steps for matching an identifiedsubject to a user account using service location of a mobile computingdevice.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing process steps for matching an identifiedsubject to a user account using velocity of subjects and a mobilecomputing device.

FIG. 9A is a flowchart showing a first part of process steps formatching an identified subject to a user account using a networkensemble.

FIG. 9B is a flowchart showing a second part of process steps formatching an identified subject to a user account using a networkensemble.

FIG. 9C is a flowchart showing a third part of process steps formatching an identified subject to a user account using a networkensemble.

FIG. 10 is an example architecture in which the four techniquespresented in FIGS. 6 to 9C are applied in an area of real space toreliably match an identified subject to a user account.

FIG. 11 is a camera and computer hardware arrangement configured forhosting the matching engine of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled inthe art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context ofa particular application and its requirements. Various modifications tothe disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied toother embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is notintended to be limited to the embodiments shown but is to be accordedthe widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosedherein.

System Overview

A system and various implementations of the subject technology isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 1-11. The system and processes aredescribed with reference to FIG. 1, an architectural level schematic ofa system in accordance with an implementation. Because FIG. 1 is anarchitectural diagram, certain details are omitted to improve theclarity of the description.

The discussion of FIG. 1 is organized as follows. First, the elements ofthe system are described, followed by their interconnections. Then, theuse of the elements in the system is described in greater detail.

FIG. 1 provides a block diagram level illustration of a system 100. Thesystem 100 includes cameras 114, network nodes hosting image recognitionengines 112 a, 112 b, and 112 n, a subject tracking engine 110 deployedin a network node 102 (or nodes) on the network, mobile computingdevices 118 a, 118 b, 118 m (collectively referred as mobile computingdevices 120), a training database 130, a subject database 140, a useraccount database 150, an image database 160, a matching engine 170deployed in a network node or nodes (also known as a processingplatform) 103, and a communication network or networks 181. The networknodes can host only one image recognition engine, or several imagerecognition engines. The system can also include an inventory databaseand other supporting data.

As used herein, a network node is an addressable hardware device orvirtual device that is attached to a network, and is capable of sending,receiving, or forwarding information over a communications channel to orfrom other network nodes. Examples of electronic devices which can bedeployed as hardware network nodes include all varieties of computers,workstations, laptop computers, handheld computers, and smartphones.Network nodes can be implemented in a cloud-based server system. Morethan one virtual device configured as a network node can be implementedusing a single physical device.

For the sake of clarity, only three network nodes hosting imagerecognition engines are shown in the system 100. However, any number ofnetwork nodes hosting image recognition engines can be connected to thesubject tracking engine 110 through the network(s) 181. Similarly, threemobile computing devices are shown in the system 100. However, anynumber of mobile computing devices can be connected to the network node103 hosting the matching engine 170 through the network(s) 181. Also, animage recognition engine, a subject tracking engine, a matching engineand other processing engines described herein can execute using morethan one network node in a distributed architecture.

The interconnection of the elements of system 100 will now be described.Network(s) 181 couples the network nodes 101 a, 101 b, and 101 n,respectively, hosting image recognition engines 112 a, 112 b, and 112 n,the network node 102 hosting the subject tracking engine 110, the mobilecomputing devices 118 a, 118 b, and 118 m, the training database 130,the subject database 140, the user account database 150, the imagedatabase 160, and the network node 103 hosting the matching engine 170.Cameras 114 are connected to the subject tracking engine 110 throughnetwork nodes hosting image recognition engines 112 a, 112 b, and 112 n.In one embodiment, the cameras 114 are installed in a shopping storesuch that sets of cameras 114 (two or more) with overlapping fields ofview are positioned over each aisle to capture images of real space inthe store. In FIG. 1, two cameras are arranged over aisle 116 a, twocameras are arranged over aisle 116 b, and three cameras are arrangedover aisle 116 n. The cameras 114 are installed over aisles withoverlapping fields of view. In such an embodiment, the cameras areconfigured with the goal that customers moving in the aisles of theshopping store are present in the field of view of two or more camerasat any moment in time.

Cameras 114 can be synchronized in time with each other, so that imagesare captured at the same time, or close in time, and at the same imagecapture rate. The cameras 114 can send respective continuous streams ofimages at a predetermined rate to network nodes hosting imagerecognition engines 112 a-112 n. Images captured in all the camerascovering an area of real space at the same time, or close in time, aresynchronized in the sense that the synchronized images can be identifiedin the processing engines as representing different views of subjectshaving fixed positions in the real space. For example, in oneembodiment, the cameras send image frames at the rates of 30 frames persecond (fps) to respective network nodes hosting image recognitionengines 112 a-112 n. Each frame has a timestamp, identity of the camera(abbreviated as “camera_id”), and a frame identity (abbreviated as“frame_id”) along with the image data. Other embodiments of thetechnology disclosed can use different types of sensors such as infraredor RF image sensors, ultrasound sensors, thermal sensors, Lidars, etc.,to generate this data. Multiple types of sensors can be used, includingfor example ultrasound or RF sensors in addition to the cameras 114 thatgenerate RGB color output. Multiple sensors can be synchronized in timewith each other, so that frames are captured by the sensors at the sametime, or close in time, and at the same frame capture rate. In all ofthe embodiments described herein sensors other than cameras, or sensorsof multiple types, can be used to produce the sequences of imagesutilized.

Cameras installed over an aisle are connected to respective imagerecognition engines. For example, in FIG. 1, the two cameras installedover the aisle 116 a are connected to the network node 101 a hosting animage recognition engine 112 a. Likewise, the two cameras installed overaisle 116 b are connected to the network node 101 b hosting an imagerecognition engine 112 b. Each image recognition engine 112 a-112 nhosted in a network node or nodes 101 a-101 n, separately processes theimage frames received from one camera each in the illustrated example.

In one embodiment, each image recognition engine 112 a, 112 b, and 112 nis implemented as a deep learning algorithm such as a convolutionalneural network (abbreviated CNN). In such an embodiment, the CNN istrained using a training database 130. In an embodiment describedherein, image recognition of subjects in the real space is based onidentifying and grouping joints recognizable in the images, where thegroups of joints can be attributed to an individual subject. For thisjoints-based analysis, the training database 130 has a large collectionof images for each of the different types of joints for subjects. In theexample embodiment of a shopping store, the subjects are the customersmoving in the aisles between the shelves. In an example embodiment,during training of the CNN, the system 100 is referred to as a “trainingsystem.” After training the CNN using the training database 130, the CNNis switched to production mode to process images of customers in theshopping store in real time.

In an example embodiment, during production, the system 100 is referredto as a runtime system (also referred to as an inference system). TheCNN in each image recognition engine produces arrays of joints datastructures for images in its respective stream of images. In anembodiment as described herein, an array of joints data structures isproduced for each processed image, so that each image recognition engine112 a-112 n produces an output stream of arrays of joints datastructures. These arrays of joints data structures from cameras havingoverlapping fields of view are further processed to form groups ofjoints, and to identify such groups of joints as subjects. These groupsof joints may not uniquely identify the individual in the image, or anauthentic user account for the individual in the image, but can be usedto track a subject in the area. The subjects can be identified andtracked by the system using an identifier “subject_id” during theirpresence in the area of real space.

For example, when a customer enters a shopping store, the systemidentifies the customer using joints analysis as described above and isassigned a “subject_id”. This identifier is, however, not linked to realworld identity of the subject such as user account, name, driver'slicense, email addresses, mailing addresses, credit card numbers, bankaccount numbers, driver's license number, etc. or to identifyingbiometric identification such as finger prints, facial recognition, handgeometry, retina scan, iris scan, voice recognition, etc. Therefore, theidentified subject is anonymous. Details of an example technology forsubject identification and tracking are presented in U.S. Pat. No.10,055,853, issued 21 Aug. 2018, titled, “Subject Identification andTracking Using Image Recognition Engine” which is incorporated herein byreference as if fully set forth herein.

The subject tracking engine 110, hosted on the network node 102receives, in this example, continuous streams of arrays of joints datastructures for the subjects from image recognition engines 112 a-112 n.The subject tracking engine 110 processes the arrays of joints datastructures and translates the coordinates of the elements in the arraysof joints data structures corresponding to images in different sequencesinto candidate joints having coordinates in the real space. For each setof synchronized images, the combination of candidate joints identifiedthroughout the real space can be considered, for the purposes ofanalogy, to be like a galaxy of candidate joints. For each succeedingpoint in time, movement of the candidate joints is recorded so that thegalaxy changes over time. The output of the subject tracking engine 110is stored in the subject database 140.

The subject tracking engine 110 uses logic to identify groups or sets ofcandidate joints having coordinates in real space as subjects in thereal space. For the purposes of analogy, each set of candidate points islike a constellation of candidate joints at each point in time. Theconstellations of candidate joints can move over time.

In an example embodiment, the logic to identify sets of candidate jointscomprises heuristic functions based on physical relationships amongstjoints of subjects in real space. These heuristic functions are used toidentify sets of candidate joints as subjects. The sets of candidatejoints comprise individual candidate joints that have relationshipsaccording to the heuristic parameters with other individual candidatejoints and subsets of candidate joints in a given set that has beenidentified, or can be identified, as an individual subject.

In the example of a shopping store, as the customer completes shoppingand moves out of the store, the system processes payment of items boughtby the customer. In a cashier-less store, the system has to link thecustomer with a “user account” containing preferred payment methodprovided by the customer.

As described above, the “identified subject” is anonymous becauseinformation about the joints and relationships among the joints is notstored as biometric identifying information linked to an individual orto a user account.

The system includes a matching engine 170 (hosted on the network node103) to process signals received from mobile computing devices 120(carried by the subjects) to match the identified subjects with useraccounts. The matching can be performed by identifying locations ofmobile devices executing client applications in the area of real space(e.g., the shopping store) and matching locations of mobile devices withlocations of subjects, without use of personal identifying biometricinformation from the images.

The actual communication path to the network node 103 hosting thematching engine 170 through the network 181 can be point-to-point overpublic and/or private networks. The communications can occur over avariety of networks 181, e.g., private networks, VPN, MPLS circuit, orInternet, and can use appropriate application programming interfaces(APIs) and data interchange formats, e.g., Representational StateTransfer (REST), JavaScript™ Object Notation (JSON), Extensible MarkupLanguage (XML), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Java™ MessageService (JMS), and/or Java Platform Module System. All of thecommunications can be encrypted. The communication is generally over anetwork such as a LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network),telephone network (Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP), wireless network, point-to-point network,star network, token ring network, hub network, Internet, inclusive ofthe mobile Internet, via protocols such as EDGE, 3G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, andWiMAX. Additionally, a variety of authorization and authenticationtechniques, such as username/password, Open Authorization (OAuth),Kerberos, SecureID, digital certificates and more, can be used to securethe communications.

The technology disclosed herein can be implemented in the context of anycomputer-implemented system including a database system, a multi-tenantenvironment, or a relational database implementation like an Oracle™compatible database implementation, an IBM DB2 Enterprise Server™compatible relational database implementation, a MySQL™ or PostgreSQL™compatible relational database implementation or a Microsoft SQL Server™compatible relational database implementation or a NoSQL™ non-relationaldatabase implementation such as a Vampire™ compatible non-relationaldatabase implementation, an Apache Cassandra™ compatible non-relationaldatabase implementation, a BigTable™ compatible non-relational databaseimplementation or an HBase™ or DynamoDB™ compatible non-relationaldatabase implementation. In addition, the technology disclosed can beimplemented using different programming models like MapReduce™, bulksynchronous programming, MPI primitives, etc. or different scalablebatch and stream management systems like Apache Storm™, Apache Spark™,Apache Kafka™, Apache Flink™, Truviso™, Amazon Elasticsearch Service™,Amazon Web Services™ (AWS), IBM Info-Sphere™, Borealis™, and Yahoo! S4™.

Camera Arrangement

The cameras 114 are arranged to track multi-joint subjects (or entities)in a three-dimensional (abbreviated as 3D) real space. In the exampleembodiment of the shopping store, the real space can include the area ofthe shopping store where items for sale are stacked in shelves. A pointin the real space can be represented by an (x, y, z) coordinate system.Each point in the area of real space for which the system is deployed iscovered by the fields of view of two or more cameras 114.

In a shopping store, the shelves and other inventory display structurescan be arranged in a variety of manners, such as along the walls of theshopping store, or in rows forming aisles or a combination of the twoarrangements. FIG. 2 shows an arrangement of shelves, forming an aisle116 a, viewed from one end of the aisle 116 a. Two cameras, camera A 206and camera B 208 are positioned over the aisle 116 a at a predetermineddistance from a roof 230 and a floor 220 of the shopping store above theinventory display structures, such as shelves. The cameras 114 comprisecameras disposed over and having fields of view encompassing respectiveparts of the inventory display structures and floor area in the realspace. The coordinates in real space of members of a set of candidatejoints, identified as a subject, identify locations of the subject inthe floor area. In FIG. 2, a subject 240 is holding the mobile computingdevice 118 a and standing on the floor 220 in the aisle 116 a. Themobile computing device can send and receive signals through thewireless network(s) 181. In one example, the mobile computing devices120 communicate through a wireless network using for example a Wi-Fiprotocol, or other wireless protocols like Bluetooth, ultra-wideband,and ZigBee, through wireless access points (WAP) 250 and 252.

In the example embodiment of the shopping store, the real space caninclude all of the floor 220 in the shopping store from which inventorycan be accessed. Cameras 114 are placed and oriented such that areas ofthe floor 220 and shelves can be seen by at least two cameras. Thecameras 114 also cover at least part of the shelves 202 and 204 andfloor space in front of the shelves 202 and 204. Camera angles areselected to have both steep perspective, straight down, and angledperspectives that give more full body images of the customers. In oneexample embodiment, the cameras 114 are configured at an eight (8) footheight or higher throughout the shopping store.

In FIG. 2, the cameras 206 and 208 have overlapping fields of view,covering the space between a shelf A 202 and a shelf B 204 withoverlapping fields of view 216 and 218, respectively. A location in thereal space is represented as a (x, y, z) point of the real spacecoordinate system. “x” and “y” represent positions on a two-dimensional(2D) plane which can be the floor 220 of the shopping store. The value“z” is the height of the point above the 2D plane at floor 220 in oneconfiguration.

FIG. 3 illustrates the aisle 116 a viewed from the top of FIG. 2,further showing an example arrangement of the positions of cameras 206and 208 over the aisle 116 a. The cameras 206 and 208 are positionedcloser to opposite ends of the aisle 116 a. The camera A 206 ispositioned at a predetermined distance from the shelf A 202 and thecamera B 208 is positioned at a predetermined distance from the shelf B204. In another embodiment, in which more than two cameras arepositioned over an aisle, the cameras are positioned at equal distancesfrom each other. In such an embodiment, two cameras are positioned closeto the opposite ends and a third camera is positioned in the middle ofthe aisle. It is understood that a number of different cameraarrangements are possible.

Joints Data Structure

The image recognition engines 112 a-112 n receive the sequences ofimages from cameras 114 and process images to generate correspondingarrays of joints data structures. In one embodiment, the imagerecognition engines 112 a-112 n identify one of the 19 possible jointsof each subject at each element of the image. The possible joints can begrouped in two categories: foot joints and non-foot joints. The 19^(th)type of joint classification is for all non-joint features of thesubject (i.e. elements of the image not classified as a joint).

Foot Joints:

-   -   Ankle joint (left and right)

Non-foot Joints:

-   -   Neck    -   Nose    -   Eyes (left and right)    -   Ears (left and right)    -   Shoulders (left and right)    -   Elbows (left and right)    -   Wrists (left and right)    -   Hip (left and right)    -   Knees (left and right)

Not a joint

An array of joints data structures for a particular image classifieselements of the particular image by joint type, time of the particularimage, and the coordinates of the elements in the particular image. Inone embodiment, the image recognition engines 112 a-112 n areconvolutional neural networks (CNN), the joint type is one of the 19types of joints of the subjects, the time of the particular image is thetimestamp of the image generated by the source camera 114 for theparticular image, and the coordinates (x, y) identify the position ofthe element on a 2D image plane.

The output of the CNN is a matrix of confidence arrays for each imageper camera. The matrix of confidence arrays is transformed into an arrayof joints data structures. A joints data structure 400 as shown in FIG.4 is used to store the information of each joint. The joints datastructure 400 identifies x and y positions of the element in theparticular image in the 2D image space of the camera from which theimage is received. A joint number identifies the type of jointidentified. For example, in one embodiment, the values range from 1 to19. A value of 1 indicates that the joint is a left ankle, a value of 2indicates the joint is a right ankle and so on. The type of joint isselected using the confidence array for that element in the outputmatrix of CNN. For example, in one embodiment, if the valuecorresponding to the left-ankle joint is highest in the confidence arrayfor that image element, then the value of the joint number is “1”.

A confidence number indicates the degree of confidence of the CNN inpredicting that joint. If the value of confidence number is high, itmeans the CNN is confident in its prediction. An integer-Id is assignedto the joints data structure to uniquely identify it. Following theabove mapping, the output matrix of confidence arrays per image isconverted into an array of joints data structures for each image. In oneembodiment, the joints analysis includes performing a combination ofk-nearest neighbors, mixture of Gaussians, and various image morphologytransformations on each input image. The result comprises arrays ofjoints data structures which can be stored in the form of a bit mask ina ring buffer that maps image numbers to bit masks at each moment intime.

Subject Tracking Engine

The tracking engine 110 is configured to receive arrays of joints datastructures generated by the image recognition engines 112 a-112 ncorresponding to images in sequences of images from cameras havingoverlapping fields of view. The arrays of joints data structures perimage are sent by image recognition engines 112 a-112 n to the trackingengine 110 via the network(s) 181. The tracking engine 110 translatesthe coordinates of the elements in the arrays of joints data structurescorresponding to images in different sequences into candidate jointshaving coordinates in the real space. The tracking engine 110 compriseslogic to identify sets of candidate joints having coordinates in realspace (constellations of joints) as subjects in the real space. In oneembodiment, the tracking engine 110 accumulates arrays of joints datastructures from the image recognition engines for all the cameras at agiven moment in time and stores this information as a dictionary in thesubject database 140, to be used for identifying a constellation ofcandidate joints. The dictionary can be arranged in the form ofkey-value pairs, where keys are camera ids and values are arrays ofjoints data structures from the camera. In such an embodiment, thisdictionary is used in heuristics-based analysis to determine candidatejoints and for assignment of joints to subjects. In such an embodiment,a high-level input, processing and output of the tracking engine 110 isillustrated in table 1. Details of the logic applied by the subjecttracking engine 110 to create subjects by combining candidate joints andtrack movement of subjects in the area of real space are presented inU.S. Pat. No. 10,055,853, issued 21 Aug. 2018, titled, “SubjectIdentification and Tracking Using Image Recognition Engine” which isincorporated herein by reference.

TABLE 1 Inputs, processing and outputs from subject tracking engine 110in an example embodiment. Inputs Processing Output Arrays of joints dataCreate joints dictionary List of identified structures per image and forReproject joint subjects in the each joints data structure positions inthe fields real space at a Unique ID of view of cameras with moment intime Confidence number overlapping fields of Joint number view tocandidate joints (x, y) position in image spaceSubject Data Structure

The subject tracking engine 110 uses heuristics to connect joints ofsubjects identified by the image recognition engines 112 a-112 n. Indoing so, the subject tracking engine 110 creates new subjects andupdates the locations of existing subjects by updating their respectivejoint locations. The subject tracking engine 110 uses triangulationtechniques to project the locations of joints from 2D space coordinates(x, y) to 3D real space coordinates (x, y, z). FIG. 5 shows the subjectdata structure 500 used to store the subject. The subject data structure500 stores the subject related data as a key-value dictionary. The keyis a frame_number and the value is another key-value dictionary wherekey is the camera_id and value is a list of 18 joints (of the subject)with their locations in the real space. The subject data is stored inthe subject database 140. Every new subject is also assigned a uniqueidentifier that is used to access the subject's data in the subjectdatabase 140.

In one embodiment, the system identifies joints of a subject and createsa skeleton of the subject. The skeleton is projected into the real spaceindicating the position and orientation of the subject in the realspace. This is also referred to as “pose estimation” in the field ofmachine vision. In one embodiment, the system displays orientations andpositions of subjects in the real space on a graphical user interface(GUI). In one embodiment, the image analysis is anonymous, i.e., aunique identifier assigned to a subject created through joints analysisdoes not identify personal identification of the subject as describedabove.

Matching Engine

The matching engine 170 includes logic to match the identified subjectswith their respective user accounts by identifying locations of mobiledevices (carried by the identified subjects) that are executing clientapplications in the area of real space. In one embodiment, the matchingengine uses multiple techniques, independently or in combination, tomatch the identified subjects with the user accounts. The system can beimplemented without maintaining biometric identifying information aboutusers, so that biometric information about account holders is notexposed to security and privacy concerns raised by distribution of suchinformation.

In one embodiment, a customer logs in to the system using a clientapplication executing on a personal mobile computing device uponentering the shopping store, identifying an authentic user account to beassociated with the client application on the mobile device. The systemthen sends a “semaphore” image selected from the set of unassignedsemaphore images in the image database 160 to the client applicationexecuting on the mobile device. The semaphore image is unique to theclient application in the shopping store as the same image is not freedfor use with another client application in the store until the systemhas matched the user account to an identified subject. After thatmatching, the semaphore image becomes available for use again. Theclient application causes the mobile device to display the semaphoreimage, which display of the semaphore image is a signal emitted by themobile device to be detected by the system. The matching engine 170 usesthe image recognition engines 112 a-n or a separate image recognitionengine (not shown in FIG. 1) to recognize the semaphore image anddetermine the location of the mobile computing device displaying thesemaphore in the shopping store. The matching engine 170 matches thelocation of the mobile computing device to a location of an identifiedsubject. The matching engine 170 then links the identified subject(stored in the subject database 140) to the user account (stored in theuser account database 150) linked to the client application for theduration in which the subject is present in the shopping store. Nobiometric identifying information is used for matching the identifiedsubject with the user account, and none is stored in support of thisprocess. That is, there is no information in the sequences of imagesused to compare with stored biometric information for the purposes ofmatching the identified subjects with user accounts in support of thisprocess.

In other embodiments, the matching engine 170 uses other signals in thealternative or in combination from the mobile computing devices 120 tolink the identified subjects to user accounts. Examples of such signalsinclude a service location signal identifying the position of the mobilecomputing device in the area of the real space, speed and orientation ofthe mobile computing device obtained from the accelerometer and compassof the mobile computing device, etc.

In some embodiments, though embodiments are provided that do notmaintain any biometric information about account holders, the system canuse biometric information to assist matching a not-yet-linked identifiedsubject to a user account. For example, in one embodiment, the systemstores “hair color” of the customer in his or her user account record.During the matching process, the system might use for example hair colorof subjects as an additional input to disambiguate and match the subjectto a user account. If the user has red colored hair and there is onlyone subject with red colored hair in the area of real space or in closeproximity of the mobile computing device, then the system might selectthe subject with red hair color to match the user account.

The flowcharts in FIGS. 6 to 9C present process steps of four techniquesusable alone or in combination by the matching engine 170.

Semaphore Images

FIG. 6 is a flowchart 600 presenting process steps for a first techniquefor matching identified subjects in the area of real space with theirrespective user accounts. In the example of a shopping store, thesubjects are customers (or shoppers) moving in the store in aislesbetween shelves and other open spaces. The process starts at step 602.As a subject enters the area of real space, the subject opens a clientapplication on a mobile computing device and attempts to login. Thesystem verifies the user credentials at step 604 (for example, byquerying the user account database 150) and accepts login communicationfrom the client application to associate an authenticated user accountwith the mobile computing device. The system determines that the useraccount of the client application is not yet linked to an identifiedsubject. The system sends a semaphore image to the client applicationfor display on the mobile computing device at step 606. Examples ofsemaphore images include various shapes of solid colors such as a redrectangle or a pink elephant, etc. A variety of images can be used assemaphores, preferably suited for high confidence recognition by theimage recognition engine. Each semaphore image can have a uniqueidentifier. The processing system includes logic to accept logincommunications from a client application on a mobile device identifyinga user account before matching the user account to an identified subjectin the area of real space, and after accepting login communicationssends a selected semaphore image from the set of semaphore images to theclient application on the mobile device.

In one embodiment, the system selects an available semaphore image fromthe image database 160 for sending to the client application. Aftersending the semaphore image to the client application, the systemchanges a status of the semaphore image in the image database 160 as“assigned” so that this image is not assigned to any other clientapplication. The status of the image remains as “assigned” until theprocess to match the identified subject to the mobile computing deviceis complete. After matching is complete, the status can be changed to“available.” This allows for rotating use of a small set of semaphoresin a given system, simplifying the image recognition problem.

The client application receives the semaphore image and displays it onthe mobile computing device. In one embodiment, the client applicationalso increases the brightness of the display to increase the imagevisibility. The image is captured by one or more cameras 114 and sent toan image processing engine, referred to as WhatCNN. The system usesWhatCNN at step 608 to recognize the semaphore images displayed on themobile computing device. In one embodiment, WhatCNN is a convolutionalneural network trained to process the specified bounding boxes in theimages to generate a classification of hands of the identified subjects.One trained WhatCNN processes image frames from one camera. In theexample embodiment of the shopping store, for each hand joint in eachimage frame, the WhatCNN identifies whether the hand joint is empty. TheWhatCNN also identifies a semaphore image identifier (in the imagedatabase 160) or an SKU (stock keeping unit) number of the inventoryitem in the hand joint, a confidence value indicating the item in thehand joint is a non-SKU item (i.e. it does not belong to the shoppingstore inventory) and a context of the hand joint location in the imageframe.

As mentioned above, two or more cameras with overlapping fields of viewcapture images of subjects in real space. Joints of a single subject canappear in image frames of multiple cameras in a respective imagechannel. A WhatCNN model per camera identifies semaphore images(displayed on mobile computing devices) in hands (represented by handjoints) of subjects. A coordination logic combines the outputs ofWhatCNN models into a consolidated data structure listing identifiers ofsemaphore images in left hand (referred to as left_hand_classid) andright hand (right_hand_classid) of identified subjects (step 610). Thesystem stores this information in a dictionary mapping subject_id toleft_hand_classid and right_hand_classid along with a timestamp,including locations of the joints in real space. The details of WhatCNNare presented in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/907,112, filed 27Feb. 2018, titled, “Item Put and Take Detection Using Image Recognition”which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth herein.

At step 612, the system checks if the semaphore image sent to the clientapplication is recognized by the WhatCNN by iterating the output of theWhatCNN models for both hands of all identified subjects. If thesemaphore image is not recognized, the system sends a reminder at a step614 to the client application to display the semaphore image on themobile computing device and repeats process steps 608 to 612. Otherwise,if the semaphore image is recognized by WhatCNN, the system matches auser_account (from the user_account database 150) associated with theclient application to subject_id (from the subject database 140) of theidentified subject holding the mobile computing device (step 616). Inone embodiment, the system maintains this mapping(subject_id-user_account) until the subject is present in the area ofreal space. The process ends at step 618.

Service Location

The flowchart 700 in FIG. 7 presents process steps for a secondtechnique for matching identified subjects with user accounts. Thistechnique uses radio signals emitted by the mobile devices indicatinglocation of the mobile devices. The process starts at step 702, thesystem accepts login communication from a client application on a mobilecomputing device as described above in step 604 to link an authenticateduser account to the mobile computing device. At step 706, the systemreceives service location information from the mobile devices in thearea of real space at regular intervals. In one embodiment, latitude andlongitude coordinates of the mobile computing device emitted from aglobal positioning system (GPS) receiver of the mobile computing deviceare used by the system to determine the location. In one embodiment, theservice location of the mobile computing device obtained from GPScoordinates has an accuracy between 1 to 3 meters. In anotherembodiment, the service location of a mobile computing device obtainedfrom GPS coordinates has an accuracy between 1 to 5 meters.

Other techniques can be used in combination with the above technique orindependently to determine the service location of the mobile computingdevice. Examples of such techniques include using signal strengths fromdifferent wireless access points (WAP) such as 250 and 252 shown inFIGS. 2 and 3 as an indication of how far the mobile computing device isfrom respective access points. The system then uses known locations ofwireless access points (WAP) 250 and 252 to triangulate and determinethe position of the mobile computing device in the area of real space.Other types of signals (such as Bluetooth, ultra-wideband, and ZigBee)emitted by the mobile computing devices can also be used to determine aservice location of the mobile computing device.

The system monitors the service locations of mobile devices with clientapplications that are not yet linked to an identified subject at step708 at regular intervals such as every second. At step 708, the systemdetermines the distance of a mobile computing device with an unmatcheduser account from all other mobile computing devices with unmatched useraccounts. The system compares this distance with a predeterminedthreshold distance “d” such as 3 meters. If the mobile computing deviceis away from all other mobile devices with unmatched user accounts by atleast “d” distance (step 710), the system determines a nearest not yetlinked subject to the mobile computing device (step 714). The locationof the identified subject is obtained from the output of the JointsCNNat step 712. In one embodiment the location of the subject obtained fromthe JointsCNN is more accurate than the service location of the mobilecomputing device. At step 616, the system performs the same process asdescribed above in flowchart 600 to match the subject_id of theidentified subject with the user_account of the client application. Theprocess ends at a step 718.

No biometric identifying information is used for matching the identifiedsubject with the user account, and none is stored in support of thisprocess. That is, there is no information in the sequences of imagesused to compare with stored biometric information for the purposes ofmatching the identified subjects with user account in support of thisprocess. Thus, this logic to match the identified subjects with useraccounts operates without use of personal identifying biometricinformation associated with the user accounts.

Speed and Orientation

The flowchart 800 in FIG. 8 presents process steps for a third techniquefor matching identified subjects with user accounts. This technique usessignals emitted by an accelerometer of the mobile computing devices tomatch identified subjects with client applications. The process startsat step 802. The process starts at step 604 to accept logincommunication from the client application as described above in thefirst and second techniques. At step 806, the system receives signalsemitted from the mobile computing devices carrying data fromaccelerometers on the mobile computing devices in the area of realspace, which can be sent at regular intervals. At a step 808, the systemcalculates an average velocity of all mobile computing devices withunmatched user accounts.

The accelerometers provide acceleration of mobile computing devicesalong the three axes (x, y, z). In one embodiment, the velocity iscalculated by taking the accelerations values at small time intervals(e.g., at every 10 milliseconds) to calculate the current velocity attime “t” i.e., v_(t)=v₀+a_(t), where v₀ is initial velocity. In oneembodiment, the v₀ is initialized as “0” and subsequently, for everytime t+1, v_(t) becomes v₀. The velocities along the three axes are thencombined to determine an overall velocity of the mobile computing deviceat time “t.” Finally at step 808, the system calculates moving averagesof velocities of all mobile computing devices over a larger period oftime such as 3 seconds which is long enough for the walking gait of anaverage person, or over longer periods of time.

At step 810, the system calculates Euclidean distance (also referred toas L2 norm) between velocities of all pairs of mobile computing deviceswith unmatched client applications to not yet linked identifiedsubjects. The velocities of subjects are derived from changes inpositions of their joints with respect to time, obtained from jointsanalysis and stored in respective subject data structures 500 withtimestamps. In one embodiment, a location of center of mass of eachsubject is determined using the joints analysis. The velocity, or otherderivative, of the center of mass location data of the subject is usedfor comparison with velocities of mobile computing devices. For eachsubject_id-user_account pair, if the value of the Euclidean distancebetween their respective velocities is less than a threshold_0, ascore_counter for the subject_id-user_account pair is incremented. Theabove process is performed at regular time intervals, thus updating thescore_counter for each subject_id-user_account pair.

At regular time intervals (e.g., every one second), the system comparesthe score_counter values for pairs of every unmatched user account withevery not yet linked identified subject (step 812). If the highest scoreis greater than threshold_1 (step 814), the system calculates thedifference between the highest score and the second highest score (forpair of same user account with a different subject) at step 816. If thedifference is greater than threshold_2, the system selects the mappingof user_account to the identified subject at step 818 and follows thesame process as described above in step 616. The process ends at a step820.

In another embodiment, when JointsCNN recognizes a hand holding a mobilecomputing device, the velocity of the hand (of the identified subject)holding the mobile computing device is used in above process instead ofusing the velocity of the center of mass of the subject. This improvesperformance of the matching algorithm. To determine values of thethresholds (threshold_0, threshold_1, threshold_2), the system usestraining data with labels assigned to the images. During training,various combinations of the threshold values are used and the output ofthe algorithm is matched with ground truth labels of images to determineits performance. The values of thresholds that result in best overallassignment accuracy are selected for use in production (or inference).

No biometric identifying information is used for matching the identifiedsubject with the user account, and none is stored in support of thisprocess. That is, there is no information in the sequences of imagesused to compare with stored biometric information for the purposes ofmatching the identified subjects with user accounts in support of thisprocess. Thus, this logic to match the identified subjects with useraccounts operates without use of personal identifying biometricinformation associated with the user accounts.

Network Ensemble

A network ensemble is a learning paradigm where many networks arejointly used to solve a problem. Ensembles typically improve theprediction accuracy obtained from a single classifier by a factor thatvalidates the effort and cost associated with learning multiple models.In the fourth technique to match user accounts to not yet linkedidentified subjects, the second and third techniques presented above arejointly used in an ensemble (or network ensemble). To use the twotechniques in an ensemble, relevant features are extracted fromapplication of the two techniques. FIGS. 9A-9C present process steps (ina flowchart 900) for extracting features, training the ensemble andusing the trained ensemble to predict match of a user account to a notyet linked identified subject.

FIG. 9A presents the process steps for generating features using thesecond technique that uses service location of mobile computing devices.The process starts at step 902. At a step 904, a Count_X, for the secondtechnique is calculated indicating a number of times a service locationof a mobile computing device with an unmatched user account is X metersaway from all other mobile computing devices with unmatched useraccounts. At step 906, Count_X values of all tuples ofsubject_id-user_account pairs is stored by the system for use by theensemble. In one embodiment, multiple values of X are used e.g., 1 m, 2m, 3 m, 4 m, 5 m (steps 908 and 910). For each value of X, the count isstored as a dictionary that maps tuples of subject_id-user_account tocount score, which is an integer. In the example where 5 values of X areused, five such dictionaries are created at step 912. The process endsat step 914.

FIG. 9B presents the process steps for generating features using thethird technique that uses velocities of mobile computing devices. Theprocess starts at step 920. At a step 922, a Count_Y, for the thirdtechnique is determined which is equal to score_counter valuesindicating number of times Euclidean distance between a particularsubject_id-user_account pair is below a threshold_0. At a step 924,Count_Y values of all tuples of subject_id-user_account pairs is storedby the system for use by the ensemble. In one embodiment, multiplevalues of threshold_0 are used e.g., five different values (steps 926and 928). For each value of threshold_0, the Count_Y is stored as adictionary that maps tuples of subject_id-user_account to count score,which is an integer. In the example where 5 values of threshold areused, five such dictionaries are created at step 930. The process endsat step 932.

The features from the second and third techniques are then used tocreate a labeled training data set and used to train the networkensemble. To collect such a data set, multiple subjects (shoppers) walkin an area of real space such as a shopping store. The images of thesesubject are collected using cameras 114 at regular time intervals. Humanlabelers review the images and assign correct identifiers (subject_idand user_account) to the images in the training data. The process isdescribed in a flowchart 900 presented in FIG. 9C. The process starts ata step 940. At a step 942, features in the form of Count_X and Count_Ydictionaries obtained from second and third techniques are compared withcorresponding true labels assigned by the human labelers on the imagesto identify correct matches (true) and incorrect matches (false) ofsubject_id and user_account.

As we have only two categories of outcome for each mapping of subject_idand user_account: true or false, a binary classifier is trained usingthis training data set (step 944). Commonly used methods for binaryclassification include decision trees, random forest, neural networks,gradient boost, support vector machines, etc. A trained binaryclassifier is used to categorize new probabilistic observations as trueor false. The trained binary classifier is used in production (orinference) by giving as input Count_X and Count_Y dictionaries forsubject_id-user_account tuples. The trained binary classifier classifieseach tuple as true or false at a step 946. The process ends at a step948.

If there is an unmatched mobile computing device in the area of realspace after application of the above four techniques, the system sends anotification to the mobile computing device to open the clientapplication. If the user accepts the notification, the clientapplication will display a semaphore image as described in the firsttechnique. The system will then follow the steps in the first techniqueto check-in the shopper (match subject_id to user_account). If thecustomer does not respond to the notification, the system will send anotification to an employee in the shopping store indicating thelocation of the unmatched customer. The employee can then walk to thecustomer, ask him to open the client application on his mobile computingdevice to check-in to the system using a semaphore image.

No biometric identifying information is used for matching the identifiedsubject with the user account, and none is stored in support of thisprocess. That is, there is no information in the sequences of imagesused to compare with stored biometric information for the purposes ofmatching the identified subjects with user accounts in support of thisprocess. Thus, this logic to match the identified subjects with useraccounts operates without use of personal identifying biometricinformation associated with the user accounts.

Architecture

An example architecture of a system in which the four techniquespresented above are applied to match a user_account to a not yet linkedsubject in an area of real space is presented in FIG. 10. Because FIG.10 is an architectural diagram, certain details are omitted to improvethe clarity of description. The system presented in FIG. 10 receivesimage frames from a plurality of cameras 114. As described above, in oneembodiment, the cameras 114 can be synchronized in time with each other,so that images are captured at the same time, or close in time, and atthe same image capture rate. Images captured in all the cameras coveringan area of real space at the same time, or close in time, aresynchronized in the sense that the synchronized images can be identifiedin the processing engines as representing different views at a moment intime of subjects having fixed positions in the real space. The imagesare stored in a circular buffer of image frames per camera 1002.

A “subject identification” subsystem 1004 (also referred to as firstimage processors) processes image frames received from cameras 114 toidentify and track subjects in the real space. The first imageprocessors include subject image recognition engines such as theJointsCNN above.

A “semantic diffing” subsystem 1006 (also referred to as second imageprocessors) includes background image recognition engines, which receivecorresponding sequences of images from the plurality of cameras andrecognize semantically significant differences in the background (i.e.inventory display structures like shelves) as they relate to puts andtakes of inventory items, for example, over time in the images from eachcamera. The second image processors receive output of the subjectidentification subsystem 1004 and image frames from cameras 114 asinput. Details of “semantic diffing” subsystem are presented in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/945,466, filed 4 Apr. 2018, titled,“Predicting Inventory Events using Semantic Diffing,” and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/945,473, filed 4 Apr. 2018, titled, “PredictingInventory Events using Foreground/Background Processing,” both of whichare incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth herein. Thesecond image processors process identified background changes to make afirst set of detections of takes of inventory items by identifiedsubjects and of puts of inventory items on inventory display structuresby identified subjects. The first set of detections are also referred toas background detections of puts and takes of inventory items. In theexample of a shopping store, the first detections identify inventoryitems taken from the shelves or put on the shelves by customers oremployees of the store. The semantic diffing subsystem includes thelogic to associate identified background changes with identifiedsubjects.

A “region proposals” subsystem 1008 (also referred to as third imageprocessors) includes foreground image recognition engines, receivescorresponding sequences of images from the plurality of cameras 114, andrecognizes semantically significant objects in the foreground (i.e.shoppers, their hands and inventory items) as they relate to puts andtakes of inventory items, for example, over time in the images from eachcamera. The region proposals subsystem 1008 also receives output of thesubject identification subsystem 1004. The third image processorsprocess sequences of images from cameras 114 to identify and classifyforeground changes represented in the images in the correspondingsequences of images. The third image processors process identifiedforeground changes to make a second set of detections of takes ofinventory items by identified subjects and of puts of inventory items oninventory display structures by identified subjects. The second set ofdetections are also referred to as foreground detection of puts andtakes of inventory items. In the example of a shopping store, the secondset of detections identifies takes of inventory items and puts ofinventory items on inventory display structures by customers andemployees of the store. The details of a region proposal subsystem arepresented in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/907,112, filed 27 Feb.2018, titled, “Item Put and Take Detection Using Image Recognition”which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth herein.

The system described in FIG. 10 includes a selection logic 1010 toprocess the first and second sets of detections to generate log datastructures including lists of inventory items for identified subjects.For a take or put in the real space, the selection logic 1010 selectsthe output from either the semantic diffing subsystem 1006 or the regionproposals subsystem 1008. In one embodiment, the selection logic 1010uses a confidence score generated by the semantic diffing subsystem forthe first set of detections and a confidence score generated by theregion proposals subsystem for a second set of detections to make theselection. The output of the subsystem with a higher confidence scorefor a particular detection is selected and used to generate a log datastructure 1012 (also referred to as a shopping cart data structure)including a list of inventory items (and their quantities) associatedwith identified subjects.

To process a payment for the items in the log data structure 1012, thesystem in FIG. 10 applies the four techniques for matching theidentified subject (associated with the log data) to a user_accountwhich includes a payment method such as credit card or bank accountinformation. In one embodiment, the four techniques are appliedsequentially as shown in the figure. If the process steps in flowchart600 for the first technique produces a match between the subject and theuser account then this information is used by a payment processor 1036to charge the customer for the inventory items in the log datastructure. Otherwise (step 1028), the process steps presented inflowchart 700 for the second technique are followed and the user accountis used by the payment processor 1036. If the second technique is unableto match the user account with a subject (1030) then the process stepspresented in flowchart 800 for the third technique are followed. If thethird technique is unable to match the user account with a subject(1032) then the process steps in flowchart 900 for the fourth techniqueare followed to match the user account with a subject.

If the fourth technique is unable to match the user account with asubject (1034), the system sends a notification to the mobile computingdevice to open the client application and follow the steps presented inthe flowchart 600 for the first technique. If the customer does notrespond to the notification, the system will send a notification to anemployee in the shopping store indicating the location of the unmatchedcustomer. The employee can then walk to the customer, ask him to openthe client application on his mobile computing device to check-in to thesystem using a semaphore image (step 1040). It is understood that inother embodiments of the architecture presented in FIG. 10, fewer thanfour techniques can be used to match the user accounts to not yet linkedidentified subjects.

Network Configuration

FIG. 11 presents an architecture of a network hosting the matchingengine 170 which is hosted on the network node 103. The system includesa plurality of network nodes 103, 101 a-101 n, and 102 in theillustrated embodiment. In such an embodiment, the network nodes arealso referred to as processing platforms. Processing platforms (networknodes) 103, 101 a-101 n, and 102 and cameras 1112, 1114, 1116, . . .1118 are connected to network(s) 1181.

FIG. 11 shows a plurality of cameras 1112, 1114, 1116, . . . 1118connected to the network(s). A large number of cameras can be deployedin particular systems. In one embodiment, the cameras 1112 to 1118 areconnected to the network(s) 1181 using Ethernet-based connectors 1122,1124, 1126, and 1128, respectively. In such an embodiment, theEthernet-based connectors have a data transfer speed of 1 gigabit persecond, also referred to as Gigabit Ethernet. It is understood that inother embodiments, cameras 114 are connected to the network using othertypes of network connections which can have a faster or slower datatransfer rate than Gigabit Ethernet. Also, in alternative embodiments, aset of cameras can be connected directly to each processing platform,and the processing platforms can be coupled to a network.

Storage subsystem 1130 stores the basic programming and data constructsthat provide the functionality of certain embodiments of the presentinvention. For example, the various modules implementing thefunctionality of the matching engine 170 may be stored in storagesubsystem 1130. The storage subsystem 1130 is an example of a computerreadable memory comprising a non-transitory data storage medium, havingcomputer instructions stored in the memory executable by a computer toperform all or any combination of the data processing and imageprocessing functions described herein, including logic to link subjectsin an area of real space with a user account, to determine locations ofidentified subjects represented in the images, match the identifiedsubjects with user accounts by identifying locations of mobile computingdevices executing client applications in the area of real space byprocesses as described herein. In other examples, the computerinstructions can be stored in other types of memory, including portablememory, that comprise a non-transitory data storage medium or media,readable by a computer.

These software modules are generally executed by a processor subsystem1150. A host memory subsystem 1132 typically includes a number ofmemories including a main random access memory (RAM) 1134 for storage ofinstructions and data during program execution and a read-only memory(ROM) 1136 in which fixed instructions are stored. In one embodiment,the RAM 1134 is used as a buffer for storing subject_id-user_accounttuples matched by the matching engine 170.

A file storage subsystem 1140 provides persistent storage for programand data files. In an example embodiment, the storage subsystem 1140includes four 120 Gigabyte (GB) solid state disks (SSD) in a RAID 0(redundant array of independent disks) arrangement identified by anumeral 1142. In the example embodiment, user account data in the useraccount database 150 and image data in the image database 160 which isnot in RAM is stored in RAID 0. In the example embodiment, the hard diskdrive (HDD) 1146 is slower in access speed than the RAID 0 1142 storage.The solid state disk (SSD) 1144 contains the operating system andrelated files for the matching engine 170.

In an example configuration, three cameras 1112, 1114, and 1116, areconnected to the processing platform (network node) 103. Each camera hasa dedicated graphics processing unit GPU 1 1162, GPU 2 1164, and GPU 31166, to process images sent by the camera. It is understood that fewerthan or more than three cameras can be connected per processingplatform. Accordingly, fewer or more GPUs are configured in the networknode so that each camera has a dedicated GPU for processing the imageframes received from the camera. The processor subsystem 1150, thestorage subsystem 1130 and the GPUs 1162, 1164, and 1166 communicateusing the bus subsystem 1154.

A network interface subsystem 1170 is connected to the bus subsystem1154 forming part of the processing platform (network node) 103. Networkinterface subsystem 1170 provides an interface to outside networks,including an interface to corresponding interface devices in othercomputer systems. The network interface subsystem 1170 allows theprocessing platform to communicate over the network either by usingcables (or wires) or wirelessly. The wireless radio signals 1175 emittedby the mobile computing devices 120 in the area of real space arereceived (via the wireless access points) by the network interfacesubsystem 1170 for processing by the matching engine 170. A number ofperipheral devices such as user interface output devices and userinterface input devices are also connected to the bus subsystem 1154forming part of the processing platform (network node) 103. Thesesubsystems and devices are intentionally not shown in FIG. 11 to improvethe clarity of the description. Although bus subsystem 1154 is shownschematically as a single bus, alternative embodiments of the bussubsystem may use multiple busses.

In one embodiment, the cameras 114 can be implemented using Chameleon31.3 MP Color USB3 Vision (Sony ICX445), having a resolution of 1288×964,a frame rate of 30 FPS, and at 1.3 MegaPixels per image, with VarifocalLens having a working distance (mm) of 300-∞, a field of view field ofview with a ⅓″ sensor of 98.2°-23.8°.

Particular Implementations

In various embodiments, the system for linking subjects in an area ofreal space with user accounts described above also includes one or moreof the following features.

The system includes a plurality of cameras, cameras in the plurality ofcameras producing respective sequences of images in corresponding fieldsof view in the real space. The processing system is coupled to theplurality of cameras, the processing system includes logic to determinelocations of identified subjects represented in the images. The systemmatches the identified subjects with user accounts by identifyinglocations of mobile devices executing client applications in the area ofreal space, and matches locations of the mobile devices with locationsof the subjects.

In one embodiment, the system the signals emitted by the mobilecomputing devices comprise images.

In one embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobile computing devicescomprise radio signals.

In one embodiment, the system includes a set of semaphore imagesaccessible to the processing system. The processing system includeslogic to accept login communications from a client application on amobile computing device identifying a user account before matching theuser account to an identified subject in the area of real space, andafter accepting login communications the system sends a selectedsemaphore image from the set of semaphore images to the clientapplication on the mobile device.

In one such embodiment, the processing system sets a status of theselected semaphore image as assigned. The processing system receives adisplayed image of the selected semaphore image. The processing systemrecognizes the displayed image and matches the recognized semaphoreimage with the assigned images from the set of semaphore images. Theprocessing system matches a location of the mobile computing devicedisplaying the recognized semaphore image located in the area of realspace with a not yet linked identified subject. The processing system,after matching the user account to the identified subject, sets thestatus of the recognized semaphore image as available.

In one embodiment, the client applications on the mobile computingdevices transmit accelerometer data to the processing system, and thesystem matches the identified subjects with user accounts using theaccelerometer data transmitted from the mobile computing devices.

In one such embodiment, the logic to match the identified subjects withuser accounts includes logic that uses the accelerometer datatransmitted from the mobile computing device from a plurality oflocations over a time interval in the area of real space and aderivative of data indicating the locations of identified subjects overthe time interval in the area of real space.

In one embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobile computing devicesinclude location data and accelerometer data.

In one embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobile computing devicescomprise images.

In one embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobile computing devicescomprise radio signals.

A method of linking subjects in an area of real space with user accountsis disclosed. The user accounts are linked with client applicationsexecutable on mobile computing devices is disclosed. The methodincludes, using a plurality of cameras to produce respective sequencesof images in corresponding fields of view in the real space. Then themethod includes determining locations of identified subjects representedin the images. The method includes matching the identified subjects withuser accounts by identifying locations of mobile computing devicesexecuting client applications in the area of real space. Finally, themethod includes matching locations of the mobile computing devices withlocations of the subjects.

In one embodiment, the method also includes, setting a status of theselected semaphore image as assigned, receiving a displayed image of theselected semaphore image, recognizing the displayed semaphore image andmatching the recognized image with the assigned images from the set ofsemaphore images. The method includes, matching a location of the mobilecomputing device displaying the recognized semaphore image located inthe area of real space with a not yet linked identified subject.Finally, the method includes after matching the user account to theidentified subject setting the status of the recognized semaphore imageas available.

In one embodiment, matching the identified subjects with user accountsfurther includes using the accelerometer data transmitted from themobile computing device from a plurality of locations over a timeinterval in the area of real space. A derivative of data indicating thelocations of identified subjects over the time interval in the area ofreal space.

In one embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobile computing devicesinclude location data and accelerometer data.

In one embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobile computing devicescomprise images.

In one embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobile computing devicescomprise radio signals.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium impressed withcomputer program instructions to link subjects in an area of real spacewith user accounts is disclosed. The user accounts are linked withclient applications executable on mobile computing devices, theinstructions, when executed on a processor, implement a method. Themethod includes using a plurality of cameras to produce respectivesequences of images in corresponding fields of view in the real space.The method includes determining locations of identified subjectsrepresented in the images. The method includes matching the identifiedsubjects with user accounts by identifying locations of mobile computingdevices executing client applications in the area of real space.Finally, the method includes matching locations of the mobile computingdevices with locations of the subjects.

In one embodiment, the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumimplements the method further comprising the following steps. The methodincludes setting a status of the selected semaphore image as assigned,receiving a displayed image of the selected semaphore image, recognizingthe displayed semaphore image and matching the recognized image with theassigned images from the set of semaphore images. The method includesmatching a location of the mobile computing device displaying therecognized semaphore image located in the area of real space with a notyet linked identified subject. After matching the user account to theidentified subject setting the status of the recognized semaphore imageas available.

In one embodiment, the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumimplements the method including matching the identified subjects withuser accounts by using the accelerometer data transmitted from themobile computing device from a plurality of locations over a timeinterval in the area of real space and a derivative of data indicatingthe locations of identified subjects over the time interval in the areaof real space.

In one embodiment, the signals emitted by the mobile computing devicesinclude location data and accelerometer data.

Any data structures and code described or referenced above are storedaccording to many implementations in computer readable memory, whichcomprises a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which maybe any device or medium that can store code and/or data for use by acomputer system. This includes, but is not limited to, volatile memory,non-volatile memory, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs),field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), magnetic and optical storagedevices such as disk drives, magnetic tape, CDs (compact discs), DVDs(digital versatile discs or digital video discs), or other media capableof storing computer-readable media now known or later developed.

The preceding description is presented to enable the making and use ofthe technology disclosed. Various modifications to the disclosedimplementations will be apparent, and the general principles definedherein may be applied to other implementations and applications withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the technology disclosed. Thus,the technology disclosed is not intended to be limited to theimplementations shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistentwith the principles and features disclosed herein. The scope of thetechnology disclosed is defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for linking subjects in an area of realspace with user accounts, the user accounts being linked with clientapplications executable on mobile computing devices, comprising: aprocessing system configured to receive a plurality of sequences ofimages of corresponding fields of view in the real space, the processingsystem including logic to determine locations of identified subjectsrepresented in the images, logic to match the identified subjects withuser accounts by identifying locations of mobile devices executingclient applications in the area of real space, and matching locations ofthe mobile devices with locations of the subjects, wherein the clientapplications on the mobile computing devices cause display of semaphoreimages on the mobile computing devices in the area of real space, andthe logic to match the identified subjects with user accounts byidentifying locations of mobile computing devices includes an imagerecognition engine that determines locations of the mobile computingdevices displaying semaphore images.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe mobile computing devices emit signals usable to indicate locationsof the mobile computing devices in the area of real space, and the logicto match the identified subjects with user accounts identifies locationsof mobile computing devices using the emitted signals.
 3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the logic to match the identified subjects with useraccounts operates without use of personal identifying biometricinformation associated with the user accounts.
 4. The system of claim 1,including a set of semaphore images accessible to the processing system,and wherein the processing system includes logic to accept logincommunications from a client application on a mobile computing deviceidentifying a user account before matching the user account to anidentified subject in the area of real space, and after accepting logincommunications sends a selected semaphore image from the set ofsemaphore images to the client application on the mobile device.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, further including log data structures including alist of inventory items for the identified subjects, the processingsystem including logic to associate the log data structure for thematched identified subject to the user account for the identifiedsubject.
 6. A system for linking subjects in an area of real space withuser accounts, the user accounts being linked with client applicationsexecutable on mobile computing devices, comprising: a processing systemconfigured to receive a plurality of sequences of images ofcorresponding fields of view in the real space, the processing systemincluding logic to determine locations of identified subjectsrepresented in the images, logic to match the identified subjects withuser accounts by identifying locations of mobile devices executingclient applications in the area of real space, and matching locations ofthe mobile devices with locations of the subjects, the clientapplications on the mobile computing devices transmit location data tothe processing system, wherein the logic to match the identifiedsubjects with user accounts includes logic that uses the location datatransmitted from the mobile computing device from a plurality oflocations over a time interval in the area of real space, the logicfurther including: determining that all other mobile computing devicestransmitting location information of unmatched user accounts areseparated from the mobile computing device by a predetermined distance;determining a closest unmatched identified subject to the mobilecomputing device; and matching the identified unmatched subject with theuser account of the client application executing on the mobile computingdevice.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the client applications on themobile computing devices transmit accelerometer data to the processingsystem, and the logic to match the identified subjects with useraccounts uses the accelerometer data transmitted from the mobilecomputing devices.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein the mobilecomputing devices emit signals usable to indicate locations of themobile computing devices in the area of real space, and the logic tomatch the identified subjects with user accounts includes a trainednetwork to identify locations of mobile computing devices in the area ofreal space based on the signals emitted by the mobile computing devices.9. A method of linking subjects in an area of real space with useraccounts, the user accounts being linked with client applicationsexecutable on mobile computing devices, the method including: receivinga plurality of sequences of images of corresponding fields of view inthe real space; determining locations of identified subjects representedin the sequences of images; matching the identified subjects with useraccounts by identifying locations of mobile computing devices executingclient applications in the area of real space; and matching locations ofthe mobile computing devices with locations of the subjects, wherein theclient applications on the mobile computing devices cause display ofsemaphore images on the mobile computing devices in the area of realspace, and matching the identified subjects with user accounts furtherincludes identifying locations of mobile computing devices using animage recognition engine that determines locations of the mobilecomputing devices displaying semaphore images.
 10. The method of claim9, wherein: the mobile devices emit signals usable to indicate locationsof the mobile computing devices in the area of real space; and matchingthe identified subjects with user accounts further includes identifyinglocations of mobile computing devices using the emitted signals.
 11. Themethod of claim 9, wherein matching the identified subjects with useraccounts is performed without use of personal identifying biometricinformation associated with the user accounts.
 12. The method of claim9, further including accepting login communications from a clientapplication on a mobile computing device identifying a user accountbefore matching the user account to an identified subject in the area ofreal space, and after accepting login communications sending a selectedsemaphore image from a set of semaphore images to the client applicationon the mobile computing device.
 13. The method of claim 9, furtherincluding associating a log data structure that comprises a list ofinventory items for the matched identified subject to the user accountfor the identified subject.
 14. A method of linking subjects in an areaof real space with user accounts, the user accounts being linked withclient applications executable on mobile computing devices, the methodincluding: receiving a plurality of sequences of images of correspondingfields of view in the real space; determining locations of identifiedsubjects represented in the sequences of images; matching the identifiedsubjects with user accounts by identifying locations of mobile computingdevices executing client applications in the area of real space, whereinmatching the identified subjects with user accounts further includesusing location data transmitted from the mobile computing devices; andmatching locations of the mobile computing devices with locations of thesubjects, the method further including: matching the identified subjectswith user accounts using the location data transmitted from the mobilecomputing device from a plurality of locations over a time interval inthe area of real space, including: determining that all other mobilecomputing devices transmitting location information of unmatched useraccounts are separated from the mobile computing device by apredetermined distance; determining a closest unmatched identifiedsubject to the mobile computing device; and matching the identifiedunmatched subject with the user account of the client applicationexecuting on the mobile computing device.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein matching the identified subjects with user accounts furtherincludes using accelerometer data transmitted from the mobile computingdevices.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein matching the identifiedsubjects with user accounts further includes a trained networkidentifying locations of mobile computing devices in the area of realspace based on signals emitted by the mobile computing devices.
 17. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium impressed with computerprogram instructions to link subjects in an area of real space with useraccounts, the user accounts being linked with client applicationsexecutable on mobile computing devices, the instructions, when executedon a processor, implement a method comprising: receiving a plurality ofsequences of images of corresponding fields of view in the real space;determining locations of identified subjects represented in thesequences of images; matching the identified subjects with user accountsby identifying locations of mobile computing devices executing clientapplications in the area of real space; and matching locations of themobile computing devices with locations of the subjects, wherein theclient applications on the mobile computing devices cause display ofsemaphore images on the mobile computing devices in the area of realspace, and the matching the identified subjects with user accountsfurther includes identifying locations of mobile computing devices usingan image recognition engine that determines locations of the mobilecomputing devices displaying semaphore images.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the mobilecomputing devices emit signals usable to indicate locations of themobile computing devices in the area of real space, and the matching theidentified subjects with user accounts further including identifyinglocations of mobile computing devices using the emitted signals.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein thematching the identified subjects with user accounts is performed withoutuse of personal identifying biometric information associated with theuser accounts.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof claim 17, implementing the method further comprising: accepting logincommunications from a client application on a mobile computing deviceidentifying a user account before matching the user account to anidentified subject in the area of real space, and after accepting logincommunications sending a selected semaphore image from a set ofsemaphore images to the client application on the mobile computingdevice.
 21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim17, further including associating a log data structure that comprises alist of inventory items for the matched identified subject to the useraccount for the identified subject.
 22. A non-transitory computerreadable storage medium impressed with computer program instructions tolink subjects in an area of real space with user accounts, the useraccounts being linked with client applications executable on mobilecomputing devices, the instructions, when executed on a processor,implement a method comprising: receiving a plurality of sequences ofimages of corresponding fields of view in the real space; determininglocations of identified subjects represented in the sequences of images;matching the identified subjects with user accounts by identifyinglocations of mobile computing devices executing client applications inthe area of real space, wherein matching the identified subjects withuser accounts further includes using location data transmitted from themobile computing devices; and matching locations of the mobile computingdevices with locations of the subjects matching the identified subjectswith user accounts using the location data transmitted from the mobiledevice from a plurality of locations over a time interval in the area ofreal space, including: determining that all other mobile computingdevices transmitting location information of unmatched user accounts areseparated from the mobile computing device by a predetermined distance;determining a closest unmatched identified subject to the mobile device;and matching the identified unmatched subject with the user account ofthe client application executing on the mobile computing device.
 23. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22, whereinmatching the identified subjects with user accounts further includesusing accelerometer data transmitted from the mobile computing devices.24. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 22,wherein matching the identified subjects with user accounts furtherincludes a trained network identifying locations of mobile computingdevices in the area of real space based on signals emitted by the mobilecomputing devices.